Focus on Facilitation

The article focuses on the book "The Secrets of Facilitation," by Michael Wilkinson. The book aims to impart the skills the author uses to prepare S.M.A.R.T. facilitators, ones schooled in structured meeting and relating techniques. He's talking about strategic planning sessions, process improvement meetings, and the like. He deals with the sort of facilitation that calls for following a group as well as leading it. The specific meetings the author discusses are loaded with obstacles that even the most experienced facilitators can relate to. Another good chapter is about consensus, that elusive goal so often sought by meeting leaders.